Cloud Hunt
by linkpika
Summary: Everyone know about the clouds. They go into towns and can wipe out an entire city at once. One way or another they will find you. Just like they got me. Mushroom War Time.


_Over the mountain the ominous cloud_

Sadie Elizabeth scrambled across the layers of rubble and chalk. There's no use stopping to help the survivors, she told herself firmly. You have to save yourself and that's all that matters. The Mushroom War had destroyed everything including her family. Her mom. Her dad. Even her little brother. Her eyes teared up just thinking of it. She wiped her sleeve against her sleeve and stumbled roughly against a large garage can. Sadie picked herself up and continued to run.

The Mushroom War had all started just on ashes at first. A simple announcement on television that the government was unleashing a small war on another country. Nothing big. Sadie hadn't to get into the real details. Then the bombs came. Plague. Explosions. Death. The great smoky eruptions that came from each bomb were the reason the war had been called this.

And finally it struck her own damn town. It was the air that was contaminated by the smokiness that killed though. The oxygen was running out. Sadie took a deep painful breath and nearly collapsed back on the ground again.

From the corner of her eye, Sadie saw a weaker house fall. The air was getting thicker and her eyes watered. The charred wood fell at her feet and she stepped over it, ignoring the cries from inside. It didn't matter what happened to it. Family or acquaintances, just keep moving.

Only about one-fourth the town was fleeing along with Sadie though. The other fourth had died, while most just stayed inside their houses like the fools they were. Ignorance had kept them glued there, thinking that some temporary shelter could protect them from the rising threat. They were all going to die.

A gust of wind and ashes blew into Sadie's mouth and she coughed. Covering her mouth with her shirt, she climbed over the gates that protected the town from wild animals. Even if they ripped her apart at night, she had more of a chance surviving here than in the town. If the smoke would even clear, she would go back for supplies or anything at all.

She tripped on the last step and fell flat to the ground. Gritting her teeth, she picked herself up and ran again. She felt her arms scratch against the long thorns hat encased the whole forest. The radiation from the bombs had a massive impact on the plant growth. A regular rose would rise up to the height of a full-grown man. All it would do was make it harder to maneuver around and result in a couple bruises, but right now all Sadie wanted was a knife to cut the branches.

Coming to cover the land in a shroud.

The air swelled and heated to the point where it was unbearable. The bombs doing had even reached here, she thought vehemently. Why the hell would any even make anything this big? This destructive? Even innocent would die. The smoke must have covered everything from a couple mile radius. She heard shouts of discouragement from a distance, and she covered her ears.

Sadie felt her stomach gnaw at her insides. She couldn't remember the last time she had, had a decent meal. The food supply had been shut down since the war, and practically everyone had been starving from the beginning. Only the soldiers and government leaders had gotten a decent meal since. They couldn't be anymore important than us, she thought. They were ones who caused all of this. Death. Death. Death. The words probably brought laughter to their ears.

The wood only grew deeper as she hurried on. The townsfolk had only bothered to trim the vegetation at their gates and nothing further. Sadie was only glad she hadn't met into any wild animals yet. As a child, she had heard stories of wolves, bears, and tigers, which would rip apart a man's throat on sight. She shivered at the thought. How big would they be? Up to her height, or as tall as the trees that surrounded her. The only thought that reassured her was the fact that the bombs probably bothered the animals too. They were most likely running just as fast away from this area as she was. Only radiation that sped adaptation up would allow them to live here. Who hadn't seen the victims? A woman whose outside appearance changed into a mongrel. A child that appeared to melt into the water with fins.

Sadie's long choppy hair blew into her face, and she found herself reaching up to swipe the strands that stuck to her face. All her life Sadie had cared about her appearance. Every time she got, she would comb her hair down and wear the prettiest pink dresses she could find. You were only meant to wear those kinds of things for a girl if it was a special occasion, but somehow she always managed to dodge those rules. All she wanted now was a pair of jeans that let her run better, or maybe a ponytail that would hold all her hair into a bun.

Next to her, a tree lit up into a flame, and several sparks were blown onto her dress. Sadie raised her hand hurriedly to pat it out. Still, the light burns showed clearly on her dress, and she felt a hot burning sensation against her skin.

_Hide in a bushel, a basement, a cave but when cloud comes a hunting_

Suddenly the ground beneath her collapsed. Sadie yelped and felt her fingernails dig into the loose dirt. It was no use. Her legs fell before her, and she met impact with the ground. She laid there for a few stunned minutes, before rising up. The air was clearer and easier to breath in here. She looked and saw she was only a few feet from the surface. Sadie was tall for her age, and she found she could get out easily.

Above the hole was a long slope that protected rocks or other objects from suddenly clashing in. Exhausted and being already half dead, Sadie decided to spend the night there. There would be enough oxygen for the rest the time and it was better to leave fully rested tomorrow. Perhaps the smoke would clear up by then.

Sadie curled up into a ball and yawned. Rested her head on the earthy surface, she breathed deeply into the clean air. The last thing she heard was a long blood-curling scream coming from her right. She ignored it and slept.

_No ones a saved._

She awoke to a groaning sound, and she lifted her head up drowsily. For one minute she forgot she was in a thick forest that sported danger. She was inside her house waking up and ready to go to school. Sadie looked up and screamed in horror. Above her, a large tree branch seemed to whip at her, until she realized it was falling.

_No one's safe!_

How stupid could she have been? The ash would have weakened to the trees around her and any momentum after that would cause it to come crashing in. The bark toppled straight down on her and she squeezed her eyes shut.

Cloud hunt... gotcha! 


End file.
